This invention relates to grain and crop pickup implements attached to harvesting combines, and particularly to an apparatus found on these implements between the pickup and the platform of the combine which conveys harvested crop materials such as grains and beans from the grain pickup to the grain-receiving platform of a combine.
The use of a conveying apparatus as described above, known in some earlier versions as a draper belt drive assembly, intermediate a grain pickup assembly and a combine platform is long known in the harvesting field of the agriculture industry The purpose of the crop-conveying apparatus is to help move grain from the pickup assembly to the combine platform, and to prevent the grain from being inadvertently deposited on the ground behind the pickup assembly without reaching the combine platform. As illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,100 issued to Applicant's father on Jun. 11, 1957, draper belt drive assemblies generally include two adjacent, parallel rollers with several belts wrapped about them and rotating cooperatively therewith. These belts have flexible fins or flippers which help carry grain from the pickup to the combine platform. Additionally on some draper belt drive assemblies, especially those used in harvesting dry beans or similar crops, an additional component known as a bean roller may be used to help convey bean stalks onto a combine platform.
A problem with previous styles of crop-conveying apparatus is that should draper belts need replacing due to excessive wear, for example, the entire draper belt assembly would need to be disassembled. This is so because the draper belts are wrapped about two rollers, and both rollers would need to be disassembled in order to access the draper belts to be replaced, resulting in substantial equipment down-time for the farmer. As is commonly known, this often resulted in financial losses because intervening bad weather conditions would prevent the equipment from being returned to the field and crop losses would occur.
A previously issued patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,718 to Sund, the same inventor as on the present application, proposed one solution to this problem. This patent taught the use of a draper belt made of a one or two-piece construction so as to allow for clamping the piece or pieces together to form a belt, rather than requiring that belts be slid longitudinally along the roller to their proper position. Therefore it is no longer necessary to remove rollers, intermediate hardware, or other draper belts which may not need replacement.
Canadian Patent 1,252,635 to Sund, again the same inventor as on the present application, discloses another way to attach two free belt ends together. This patent teaches a belt comprising a plurality of segments, each of whose free ends are hingeably attached to another free end Each free end hinge is molded into the pliable belt carcass and is provided with a plurality of holes in the hinge portion molded within the belt segment so that the material forming the belt may interlock with the hinge to provide a secure attachment.
With this background in mind, a draper belt that is more serviceable and durable has been developed.